Pima County Administrator, Chuck Huckelberry, in an August 16 Daily Star guest editorial, outlined where our Huckelberry Blames State, But Supports Higher Taxes Through Bondsgo. However, his editorial muddies the water. He tries to blame the governor and state Legislature for the county’s high taxes.
To make things clear, let’s ignore the large amount the County collects from us for other entities including the so-called, “state mandates.” From Mr. Huckelberry’s own numbers given in his editorial, for every 4 dollars he collects from the taxpayers to cover Pima County’s general expenses, he also collects another dollar to pay the county’s current debt! This is a four to one ratio! Increasing Pima County’s $1.43 Billion debt by another $816 million in Bonds plus interest will drive our debt and taxes even higher. Mr. Huckelberry also knows passing the 2015 Bond package will increase the county’s yearly budget because of the new maintenance and operation expenses, and this will increase our taxes even further. (The County can’t afford its yearly budget now.)
Whether you agree with Mr. Huckelberry or not about who is to blame for Pima’s high taxes, the truth is he supports the 2015 Bond package that will substantially increase debt and taxes in Pima County. If high taxes truly bothered Mr. Huckelberry, he would be against the 2015 Bond package.
Taxpayers Against Pima Bonds encourages everyone including Chuck to “Stop Higher Taxes, Vote NO on Pima Bonds.”
Taxpayers Against Pima Bonds